I know what you’re thinking. This blog writer has lost it! Memorial Day is approaching and he’s writing a blog about getting ready for Halloween. Give me a second and I can explain.

What is the major decoration or symbol for Halloween?  No, I’m not speaking of witches, ghosts, corn shocks, black cats or corn mazes.  They are all an important part of the Halloween celebration but it wouldn’t be Halloween without pumpkins.

Now where do you suppose pumpkins come from?  They don’t just appear magically around the end of September for our carving enjoyment.  Insuring the presence of pumpkins for Halloween takes preparation. And that preparation begins around the last week of May.

I have been growing and selling pumpkins in our front yard for around the last fifteen years. I spent several hours last winter searching through seed catalogs locating the different varieties of pumpkins I wanted to grow this summer.  I sent the order off and in a week or so the UPS man dropped off a package.  That package has been sitting in my office waiting for Mother Nature to announce that spring has officially arrived.

Now in Minnesota it’s difficult to get Mother Nature to declare the arrival of any season for sure because she has the ability to change her mind.  Woman(and politicians) have that prerogative and certainly Mother Nature does and she uses it very frequently. But as the month of May is winding down I have faith that Mother Nature has officially ushered in spring.

So I’m getting the package of pumpkin seeds down from the shelf and preparing for the planting season.  The crap was flying earlier in the month when a farmer brought in a couple loads of manure to spread over the pumpkin ground.  Last week the Soil Conservation employees brought in their big tiller and churned the soil and manure up so walking on it feels like walking on a giant fluffy mattress.

The final key ingredient got added over the last week when an inch and a half of rain fell insuring enough moisture for seed germination.

Now all I need is an ice cream pail containing pumpkin seeds, a hoe and the “rods and twine” device. I’m sure you are familiar with an ice cream pail and a hoe but the “rods and twine” device needs a little explanation.

The pumpkin hills are to be planted six feet apart.  So I have two rods.  I push the first rod with one end of the twine attached into the ground on one side of the garden and walk to the other side of the garden unwinding the twine that is wrapped around the second rod.  When I reach the other side of the garden I pull the twine tight and push the second rod into the ground.

Every six feet on the twine I have wrapped a half inch wide piece of duct tape (another use for duct tape!). Then I get down on my knees and work my way along the twine planting a hill of pumpkin seeds under each piece of duct tape.  This insures that the pumpkin hills will be six feet apart. Isn’t that clever? 🙂

Once I have completed planting that row I pull one of the rods and take two giant steps (six feet in distance) and push the rod into the ground. Then I walk to the other side of the garden and do the same with the second rod pulling the twine tight as I push the rod into the soil. Then the planting process begins all over again.  I will continue that process until 400 to 500 hills are planted.

Luckily I am facing west as I carry out this planting process otherwise my snoopy small town neighbors will see me on my knees appearing to be bowing and start the rumor that I have converted to the Muslim religion. Hopefully they realize I would be facing east if that was the case. Small town gossip is cruel so they may just say I’m a backwards Muslim. 🙂

So if my blogs dwindle in numbers over the next couple of weeks remember I am in the Halloween preparation mode. I will be tilling weeds, spraying for those evil cucumber beetles and preparing an electric fence to keep “Damb-ie” and his fellow deer out of the pumpkin patch.  A pumpkin farmer’s work is never done! 🙂

Until next time.